SB 06 - Hurting (Josef's POV) (PG-13)

[francis]

The elevator pinged and I opened the door to let Mira, Annie and Sweety in. I lounged at the doorframe, admiring my three little ladies who took up some kind of female swagger upon seeing me watching them.
They were so magnificient. Sweety was blonde and lithe, dressed in a flittery green dress that could have been from the 20s. Despite her being blonde and fair skinned she reminded me of Josephine Baker in the way she moved and in her activism against racism that she pursued at college. I could totally see her adopting a rainbow coalition of children like Josephine did.

Annie was a beautiful brunette, dressed in a flowing gown that left not much to imagination. She moved with grace and was a playful seductress. Of course she knew that I would never cross that line, but she liked to flirt. She was on her way to become the manager of a music studio, and her taste in music was excellent. She was an expert in the newest bands and always had an assortment of CDs with her.

Mira was a redhead and a bit on the shy side. She worked hard to become a doctor, and without my protection she wouldn’t have the funds to study so much. She didn’t have much self esteem, but to be with my other freshies had improved that somewhat. They always relied on her intelligence to solve problems amongst them, and that gave her a boost. But she wasn’t really comfortable with my lifestyle. I knew though that she would protect me and the other girls with claws and teeth if necessary.

They smiled and kissed me on the cheek. Mira immediately came to the point. „Josef, we heard that your office was blown up. So you haven’t been there?“
I smiled. „No, sweetheart, I wasn’t there. And I want you to keep that to yourself, please, until the culprit is found. You understand?“
„Of course, Josef.“ The others nodded, with a solemn expression.
I turned around and with a wide gesture invited them in. „No more thoughts about unpleasant happenings, ladies, make yourself at home. Annie, I am sure you have some nice music for us. What do you want to drink?“

They gave me their choices and I fixed four drinks. Annie chose some modern version of a disco beat and immediately began to dance. I lounged down in one of Mick’s comfortable armchairs and told the others to dance, too. Mira giggled, but Annie took her arm and slowly helped her to lose some inhibitions.
Sweety only danced for a short while, then she sat down at the armrest of my chair and laid her sweet little arm around my shoulders. „You hungry?“ she whispered.

I immediately felt my fangs drop down. She smelled delicious, and she was so eager to please me, it was intoxicating. I pulled her onto my lap and ran my nose along her neck, inhaling her scent, feeling her pulse. She sighed. My eyes turned silver, the colours shifted as usual, and I could see the heat of her blood through her skin. I watched her closely, running my hands up and down her arms to keep her calm and comfortable. When I sensed that she was totally relaxed I tilted my head and bit down. She moaned. I drank her in, feeling her admiration and friendship fill me. After that she stayed at the armrest for a while, and the others danced on. The music turned to another beat, and even Mira began to loosen up. We chatted and had a good time, the view of the two dancing beauties was spectacular. I just wanted to forget all about the killer for a moment, and I enjoyed every minute.

Suddenly Mick came in. I greeted him: „Hey, you’re back.“ Maybe I could invite him to take Mira, she would be just his type. But as soon as I saw his face I knew that he wasn’t in the mood.
He stomped to the remote and shut off the sound system. „Sorry, party’s over.“ He overlooked my girls with a condescending and authorative air. But his focus was on me. He stared into my face, challenging me to say something.

The girls were taken aback by his aggressive behaviour. Sweety looked as if she was about to cry. She nervously combed her fingers through her hair and tried to crawl into me. The others stood around, rooted, trembling. They had done nothing wrong. They hadn’t even known it was his apartment, but now they obviously felt guilty for coming to Mick’s place.
I suddenly had the wish to punch Mick in the face.

I stood up and in a low voice tried to reason with him. I even tried to make a joke to get him to loosen up a bit. To no avail. He wanted them gone, preferably now. Okay, it was his loft. I apologized to my girls. I knew that Karl would wait outside for them, so I didn’t have to worry, but this was still awkward. And my reputation was hurt. Mick ordered me around like a school boy. It stung.

When they were gone, kissing me goodbye like they were used to, I closed the door and turned around. Mick immediately went at it. He was pissed. He was concerned that the girls would tell someone, and that the killer would wreck his precious little haunt, too. What a jackass. He didn’t even trust me to think about it. Just like he was the only intelligent vampire on the planet. Who did he think he was? How did he imagine that I lived this long without him to tell me what to do?
Well, he had a point, I didn’t realize that he as my friend and as the one who investigated this whole mess would be in danger too. But that wasn’t my fault, was it?
But the worst was when he accused me of not thinking about him, of not caring. He was my friend, wasn’t he? I ran to HIM after the office burned down, didn’t I? He is the one person I trusted with my life all this time, and now he accused me of not caring about him. That hurt. Badly.

I made light of it. I always do when something really gets to me. Habit, I guess. „Well, I get lonely, man. You know that.“
„Yeah. I’m beginning to see why.“
Ouch.
We both looked away. But then he became all professional again. I guess that’s his way of dealing with awkward situations.

He told me he found the assassin’s name. Ralf Martan. A mercenary, Afghanistan. I remember Afghanistan from when I accompanied the british invasion in 1839. Nice country, the opium trade made me rich again after I lost everything in the french revolution.
I didn’t recognize the name; I still had no clue, and it angered me. I wanted this mess to be cleared, so I could carry on.

The assassin made me think that it could be a human wanting my head. Who could do something like that? There were lots of names on my „wanting to kill me“ list. Could it be Whitley? After his wife died he probably tried to settle some debts. I had to get to my office.

Mick of course was totally taken aback. Seemed like he still didn’t get that I was not his lackey. He behaved like my parent. Not even my bodyguards would have such an attitude. They would be dead before morning.
I argued with him, told him I needed cash, but of course he didn’t believe me. He was too smart for that. He thought I had a deadwish or something. Suddenly he stopped the argument by going to bed. I was dead tired too, but there was no guest freezer. When I asked him what to do he told me to tidy up. Okay, the immaculate state of his loft was more important than the comfort of his best friend. Seemed I really managed to piss him off. I would have to work to get back into his good graces. This was gonna be fun.

[mitzie]

Great chapter! Mick so overly protective and Josef feeling hurt. Both of them are misunderstanding each-others motives!

Off to read more!

mitzie

[cassysj]

This is one of my favorite of the SB POV's. I know it's Mick's house but this annoyed me when I saw it on TV. When Josef said I get lonely and Mick's nasty retort. I was moving towards being a Josefite and that sealed the deal for me.

[Fleur de Lisa]

I've been waiting to use that smilie--seemed appropriate in light of Josef's behavior.

That comment he made about being lonely sure spoke volumes, and explains a lot of his hedonistic ways.

[moonshine]

excellent chapter!!
Loved that part

Well, I get lonely, man. You know that.“
„Yeah. I’m beginning to see why.“

I'm happy you put it in your dialog, because it is so strong, we realize then what kind of vampire Josef is... a lonely one...

[francis]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like this chapter. I had fun thinking how to do it. Josef hurts, but so does Mick. Being men, they just can't admit it.

[Luxe de Luxe]

yeah, you picked up on a couple of issues I felt uncomfortable with in this ep, francis.

I thought it was really weird of MIck to tell Josef to clean up, and not offer him somewhere to rest. I got that he was pissed off about Josef exposing himself to further harm, and I thought it was awful that he should care more about his place than Josef.

[francis]

Thank you, Luxe. I think this is Mick's way to punish Josef. And he just conveniently forgets that Josef has lost his place and has no home at the moment and must feel out of it. Thinking about other's feelings - not Mick's forte.

[allegrita]

I was always a little disconcerted by the scene in SB where Mick comes home to find Josef partying with the freshies and becomes so angry at Josef. Your story has done a good job of providing reasons for why Josef and Mick acted the way they did. Josef's behavior never really bothered me--but Mick's anger and lack of hospitality always did. I'm happy to have read this chapter, because it really makes a great deal of sense.

I also oved the way you fleshed out the three freshies and gave them lives and personalities here. And I'm glad you made sure they got out safely! They deserved that courtesy.

[jen]

Another wonderful chapter!

To me, Mick's anger makes perfect sense. At that stage, they didn't know what they were dealing with and the fact that the world thought that Josef was dead gave both Josef and Mick for providing him refuge a measure of safety.

I think Josef's reaction to Mick's anger showed that Josef acknowledged it and that there were valid reasons for it. Mick didn't see anything but security risks. I'm glad you provided some back story for them here.

Nicely done!

[maggatha3]

Dah!! Men!! And Josef..apart from being dead..he is also blind! And deaf! He cannot tell a friend , even if he is standing infront of him, making his best to save him!

This story is so beautifully written, though I do know what comes next, I feel the need to read and read on!!